All manner and variety of absorbent articles configured for the absorption of body fluids such as menses, urine, and feces are, of course, well known. Absorbent articles, particularly sanitary napkins, having wings or flaps are disclosed in the literature and are available in the marketplace.
Generally, the flaps extend laterally from a central absorbent means and are intended to be folded around the edges of the wearer's panties in the crotch region. Thus, the flaps are disposed between the edges of the wearer's panties in the crotch region and the wearer's thighs.
The flaps serve at least two purposes. First, the flaps prevent exudates which otherwise would soil the edges of the wearer's panties from doing such. Second, the flaps help stabilize the napkin from shifting out of place, especially when the flaps are affixed to the underside of the panties.
Sanitary napkins having flaps of various types are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,687,478, entitled "Shaped Sanitary Napkin With Flaps", which issued to Van Tilburg on Aug. 18, 1987, U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,047, entitled "Sanitary Napkin Attachment Means", which issued to Mattingly on Aug. 26, 1986, U.S. Pat. No. 4,589,876, entitled "Sanitary Napkin", which issued to Van Tilburg on May 20, 1986, U.S. Pat. No. 4,285,343, entitled "Sanitary Napkin", which issued to McNair on Aug. 25, 1981, U.S. Pat. No. 3,397,697, entitled "Disposable Sanitary Shield For Undergarments", which issued to Rickard on Aug. 20, 1968, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,787,271, entitled "Sanitary Napkin", which issued to Clark on Apr. 2, 1957.
Commonly, the flaps are provided with an adhesive attachment means, or flap adhesive, for affixing the flaps to the underside of the wearer's panties. The flap adhesive is generally provided with a release liner to protect the adhesive from dirt, keep the adhesive from drying out and to keep it from sticking to extraneous surfaces prior to use. The release liner is peeled from the flap adhesive to expose the adhesive surface which is then applied to the underside of the panties to secure the flap in place. After being peeled from the flap adhesive, the release liner is discarded. However, this arrangement requires the use of two hands to remove the release liner from each flap, i.e., the user must hold the flap with one hand and peel the release liner with the other hand. This also requires the user to dispose of the release liners which have been removed from the flaps of the sanitary napkin. Therefore, there is a need for a sanitary napkin having flaps which can be manipulated and applied using one hand. There is also a need for a sanitary napkin with a protective release material which does not have to be thrown-away or discarded.
While flaps greatly improve the effectiveness of a sanitary napkin, the flaps of a sanitary napkin may hinder or impede application of the sanitary napkin to the crotch of the wearer's panty. Currently, each of the flaps of a sanitary napkin have an end, the distal end, which may move freely relative to the sanitary napkin. Once the release paper of the central pad adhesive is removed by the wearer, the distal ends of the flaps may fall between the crotch portion of the wearer's panty and the sanitary napkin and may become adhered to the central pad adhesive. Therefore, there is a need for a sanitary napkin having flaps positioned so that they will not interfere with the application of the sanitary napkin to the panty.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an absorbent article, such as a sanitary napkin, having folded flaps and a unitary release material for the flap adhesive which allows the flap adhesive to be exposed using only one hand, eliminates the need to dispose of pieces of release liner, and maintains the flap in a folded configuration until the flap is used, so that the flap will not interfere with the application of the sanitary napkin to the panty.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an absorbent article, such as a sanitary napkin, having flaps which are folded and tucked into a recessed area and having an unitary release material for the flap adhesive.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide an absorbent article, such as a sanitary napkin, having folded flaps, an unitary release material, and zones of differential extensibility for relieving the stresses that develop in the flaps when they are folded down along the edges of the crotch of the wearer's undergarments and affixed to the underside of the undergarments.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide an absorbent article having folded and tucked side flaps, an unitary release material, and zones of differential extensibility.
These and other objects of the present invention will be more readily apparent when considered in reference to the following description and when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.